First Time For Everything
by Hufflepuff- From - District 11
Summary: It is a week after the 1st rebellion and the wheels are set in motion to whip the Districts back into order with a sadistic reality show called The Hunger Games. This story follows Demeter 15 year old boy from District 11 as his journey through adolescence is tainted with his journey through the 1st Annual Hunger Games.


Isaac Bell Demeter

The 1st Annual Hunger Games

1

I don't know what to expect. The glimmering lights of the Capitol are spectacular. I have been treated like a celebrity since my arrival here and this truly is the city that never sleeps. When I say that, it would be in a literal sense as they use some form of drug to ensure that they definitely do not, sleep especially not the night before The Hunger Games.

The president describes it as a way for the districts of Panem to pay back for the rebellion which took place last year. There are two tributes from all 12 districts both a male and a female. They are selected from a pool of all 12 - 18 year olds in the district by a "person" who has come from the Capitol who will be our escort up until the day we are sent into the arena. In my opinion it all seems just so fake. The whole event it cover - up for what the president really wants. Revenge. As a unit each of the districts rose up against the Capitol and fought for our freedom. Me being from 11, it was important to my whole family at the time to gain this freedom because 11 is one of the poorest most strict of all the districts. Ever since the rebellion the peacekeepers (guards) numbers have more or less doubled their overall presence so pretty much everyone has to do everything they say unless you are up for a one way trip to the Capitol.

I didn't even have to do anything wrong to get here. The outrageous man pulled my name out the huge bowl and a week later it's the day before the games. They dressed me up the most ridiculous farmers costume miles away from anything we wear to farm back home and paraded me and this older girl on a horse ridden chariot through the magnificent city circle where thousands of citizens and potential sponsors were screaming in excitement as they can't wait to see all 24 of us beat each other to death on live television! I have heard of something vaguely similar to this from grandparents. They called it Reality Television. The moment the games were announced I instantly asked my grandma what could be expected and she told us that we will have to be chosen from everyone in the district to go on television. The different factors of what exactly we will be doing on television, was not clear to me until we started training sessions. Stamina, endurance, survival, camouflage and hand to hand combat were just a few of the things we were required to learn for the games. This is where I began to get extremely weary. From then on I knew there was only going to be one of the 24 teenagers going onto this "reality television show" is going to be able to go home at the end of it. I am determined to after my training score of 7 out of 12 to win this thing and make it home to my family.

2

Nightmares plague my slumber. The whole concept of having to end more than one life tomorrow eats away at my mind. Seeing the life disappear from their eyes as, the entire nation watches in amazement. It's sick. No one should ever have to be in the position I am in right now. Some people say that we are way too young to be subjected to this sort of terrible exploitation, all the Capitol say is that we deserve everything we get.

I am summoned to come and eat breakfast by my eccentric escort, I can't move from my bed with the thoughts still rushing through my head. Today could be the day that I am brutally murdered in front of the entire nation this thought was worse than not knowing what this whole thing was even about at first hearing of it all. "Demeter!" the man shrilly squealed as he stood out on the other side of my door. "You have two hours until you have to be aboard the hovercraft!", the Capitol accent is vile and every single sentence they say sounds like a question, which is the most irritating thing about this magnificent metropolis. "Demeter, I am not going to ask you again." The man shouted again. This is obviously the last time he would say this but what is the worst he or the Capitol can do to me now? They are sending me to an arena in an undisclosed location to kill other kids my age; they might as well kill me as soon as I open the door to my escort. That would be too kind wouldn't it? As I have said countless times that is not what they want to do otherwise they would pick 24 of us at random every year, line us up in the City Circle and shoot us down as soon as we arrived there. If they are going to get revenge they need to get more out of it then us. Entertainment they call it. It baffles me every single time I hear him say it.

I rise from my bed in a zombie like fashion and slowly make my way to the door. There are more knocks as I make my way across the room. My hand reaches towards the elegant door handle. Twist it and suddenly a mass burst of colour and quickened voices swarms into my room. My prep team and escort are all here, they are forcing food into my mouth and complaining in their high pitched accents about how I missed breakfast and how now I only have one hour and a half left to get me ready. Back home we had ten minutes after the morning alarm goes off to make our way into the vast expanses of the corn field for a full 12 hour shift of work. This is a little different in the Capitol, they styled my curly knotted mess of hair into a thing they call corn rows and in just under half an hour, they made sure I was washed and dressed in time to catch the hover craft. My prep team said their final goodbyes and my escort rushed me down a never-ending corridor of darkness. "This way." My mentor commanded as he walked ahead of me. His name was Metis, I didn't know how old or young he was because the Capitol people have so much surgery done to their bodies it is unreal. Metis has tight multi-coloured hair which was organized accordingly to the brightness of the colours which looked completely ridiculous. He must have also had some form of surgery on his ears as they also seemed to be tied or stapled against his skull. Why would anybody want to look like that is beyond me but it is how they all like to dress.

Eventually a bright light was visible at the end of this corridor and the noise of the hovercraft could also be heard. My heart seemed to skip a beat and I became extremely light headed all of a sudden. It was like all my nightmares were coming true at once. My arms and legs became heavier and heavier dangling on my body. The last thing I remember was tripping head over heels at the sight of the other tributes filing into the impressive hovercraft. After I blanked out all I could here were the distant laughter of tributes running closer to my body. One of them, it sounded like a young girls voice said something I could barely make out in my coma like state.

"You don't stand a chance 11! Welcome to the 1st Annual Hunger Games"

3

I never saw Metis again. I woke up strapped onto a bench next to all the other tributes in room. Could this be the hovercraft taking us to the arena? I had just woke up and the other tributes staring at me looking extremely pleased with themselves. It was like how my friends would look at me when they had stolen my rake. They called it a practical joke I call it a way to get us all killed or worse. Have our tongue's cut out and become one of the Avox's that serve us in the tribute building in the Capitol. So I basically hated those kinds of jokes, nobody has time for them in 11 anymore.

There is an announcement that sounds like its coming from the front of the room. It says that we will be landing in the arena momentarily. We are in the hovercraft. Everything becomes so much clearer when a woman from the Capitol comes through a door and begins clamping something to each of our ankles. The older girl from my district who is sat next to me tells me that it is a tracker. This must be to make sure the people who make the show know exactly where we are when in the arena.

The room we are in a poorly lit so I can't make out of the faces of any of the other tributes apart from those who are sat either side of me. I can recall most of the names of the tributes from memory due to the training scores which were broadcast two days ago. From District 1 the boy is called Savoy; I think he got a ten at training that must mean he is the one to watch out for during the course of the show. The girl is called Lavender she got a nine for her training score, as equally as scary. The district 2 tributes are called Hephaestus he looks to be one of the older tributes; I think he is 17 and the girl from my district is 18. The girl from 2 is called Athena she wears glasses and looks to be around 15 so around the same age as me.

At that moment the lights came on in the room revealing every single tribute's face to me. They all looked to be relatively frightened and staring at one another with anxiety. Nobody knows much about what's going to happen but from what has been said by my escort Metis it's something that is going to involve courage and sacrifice and a hell of a lot of entertainment for the Capitol citizens. It can't possibly be a literal fight to death can it? I am pretty sure that they can't show something as explicit as that on television but then again the rebellion was entirely broadcast on television.

I distinctly remember a part of the broadcast from district 7, one moment there were children, couldn't be any older than five years old fleeing a burning building, the smoke bellowing from behind them. The fear could clearly be recognised on their innocent faces. An ear piercing scream could be heard from the building then at least three dozen peacekeepers stormed one side of the street, guns poised for firing. Directly in front of the children were the rebel army with guns also poised towards the peacekeepers. Shots were fired form both ends. One of the children was inevitably shot directly in the skull blood splattering over the snow blanketed ground. The other children screamed and surrounded the lifeless boy. The shots continued firing then what looks like the child's mother ran rampantly towards the dead child and screams towards the two sides of soldiers. The firing didn't stop. It kept going and going. A shot fired by the rebels was shot right into the mothers head, piercing the icy cold air deeply planting right in between the mothers eyes, blood splattered across the other children's faces, horrifying the sight of the mother cradling the child and then suddenly an explosion knocked out the sight of the camera. The Capitol thrives on footage like this which is the same with the shot of District 13 they showed us at the choosing of tributes.

An absurdly dressed camera crew came through a door next to me and stood in front of the screen. This startled everyone including me. A man stood facing the camera and began speaking into it in a very excited and over exaggerated tone. His name is Aleksander Righton and he was the host for The Hunger Games. He introduced each of us personally to the camera like we were going onto some hopped up children's show my grandmother told me about.

District 1 

Male: Savoy (16)

Female: Lavender (15)

District 2

Male: Hephaestus (17)

Female: Athena (15)

District 3

Male: Sync (13)

Female: Philess (17)

District 4

Male: Lachlan (17)

Female: Aquaria (13)

District 5

Male: Iden (12)

Female: Odell (14)

District 6

Male: Balin (12)

Female: Eara (14)

District 7

Male: Herschel (17)

Female: Jael (13)

District 8

Male: Kamali (14)

Female: Kamana (14)

District 9

Male: Unknown

Female: Unknown

District 10

Male: Unknown

Female: Unknown

District 11

Male: Demeter (15)

Female: Amaranta (18)

District 12

Male: Blair (15)

Female: Caittlin (14)

There was also a speech given by Aleksander about telling us why we are doing what we are doing and why it has to be the way it is. Knowing everyone's names unease's me, it will make it that much harder to take their life when and if it comes to it.

Aleksander and the camera crew then hurried back out of the door they came from and the hovercraft felt like it was lowering down into what I am guessing is the arena. There are no windows in the hovercraft. I am guessing this is so that no one gets an unfair advantage. The doors of the hovercraft opened and we are once again swarmed by a litter of peacekeepers who take of our seatbelts and escort to where we need to go next.

The journey from the hovercraft to our unknown destinations was like being sucked into a black hole. There were people surrounding me whilst I was walking, taking my temperature and swabbing my forehead with a sponge, they must want us all to be in a peak condition for the cameras. I am then lead into a room marked with an 11. Metis is waiting with a clip board in his hand studiously scribbling things down. He looked worried which was completely out of character for him. Metis finally notices I have entered the room and darts his he head upwards. "You are late." He snaps at me. "Never mind come and sit down." I walk over to a metallic stool placed directly in the middle of the room. In front of me there is a tube that has a platform which must lead up to the arena. This is the most scared I have ever been since I was chosen to take part in the games, my heart plunged into my stomach and it feels like my stomach is swirling in a never ending pool of dread.

An announcement is played into my room "2 minutes until launch." Metis gestures to a jacket which is coated in fur. I stand up and walk towards the jacket and put it on. "Get into the tube." Metis commands. I take a deep breath and make my way towards the tube and step inside. Ideas of what I thought the arena might look like have been banished. This is so that I am not as surprised when it not what I hoped for.

The platform begins to rise. My heart is beating at double its normal speed. My body is numb with anticipation. I look up and see a clear sky. Memories of watching the rebellion come back as I feel the icy cold wind rush down the tube. I close my eyes as from this moment on I know that nothing I knew in the real world would mean anything any of the 24 children going into this thing anymore. This is The Hunger Games.

4

The icy wind is the first thing that hits me. Each hair on the back of my neck stood on end. Luckily the jacket was keeping in most of my body heat. When I opened my eyes I could see each and every one of the tributes stood at either side of me on platforms like my own. The arena looked to be arctic tundra with rolling mountains and at the bottom of the range was a snow covered forest. Nothing could have prepared me for this and there were no signs until the last minute of the exact appearance of the arena.

Metis told me about the cornucopia, he said that it will be in the centre of the arena and will be full of supplies to aid survival during the games, from the look of the arena I will have to make sure that I collect as much as possible.

The tributes are all wearing the same clothes as me. A long fur coated jacket. Black skin tight pants and a balaclava. Athena and Lachlan are stood on platforms either they are both stood in a position like you would at the beginning of a race. Their eyes wide with anticipation they were facing the cornucopia that looked like a giant igloo. It stood at least 10 storeys high towering over the rest of the arena.

The countdown started "60, 59, 58, 57, 56" awkward I contact was made between me and the male tribute from 1 called Savoy; he looked to be suggestively smiling at me. Instantly I snapped back to the view of the cornucopia dead set on grabbing the essentials needed in this arena. I was not hoping to have to come into contact with anyone during the course of the games as my plan was to grab everything I needed and run as far away as possible, which is going to be hard with 23 well-built teenagers all trying to do the same thing.

"55, 54, 53, 52, 51, 50" As the countdown continues my thoughts cast back to home. How my mother and three older brothers could potentially be watching my own live execution. I wouldn't want them to see it but the initial announcement of the games stated that it will be mandatory viewing for all of Panem. Fine snow begins to fall.

The arena looks so peaceful like this. The sun in the centre of a clear sky, shining down on a fresh blanket of snow covering as far as the eye can see. I have never seen anything like it before, it's all so majestic and carefree. "37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30".

Savoy has his eyes locked onto me like an eagle onto its prey, his platform is at the very end from the right side of me I don't know whether he is trying to seduce me or terrify me. "25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20, 19, 18" The time to run nears and the snow is getting heavier and heavier to the point where I can hardly see in front of me because the cornucopia is white anyway.

The countdown stops and there is a ticking clock sound, this must mean we only have 10 seconds left. Every tribute readies themselves in the pre-race position pointing towards the cornucopia. The gong sound and every tribute jumps from their podiums and runs towards the igloo in the centre. I stay still and watch the madness unfold around me. Lavender grabs Iden by the throat and uses the platform that he just jumped from to slit his throat. This is the most shocking thing I have ever seen so I make a run for it. I am spotted by Savoy who runs exactly in my direction. Out of the corner of my eye I see a spear go through the district 10 girl's body as she falls directly to the ground. I make it to the cornucopia and see Blair who is hiding behind a shield he does not notice I am there but I grab the shield and repeatedly smash his head into the ground leaving his cracked skull on the floor. With Savoy still chasing me I had to grab what I can and leave for the woods immediately regardless of what I may have just done.

It was like watching the rebellion all over again turmoil spread over the outskirts of the cornucopia until I was so far away that I could not hear the children's screams no more. As I reach an iced over lake leading into the forest cannons start to go off. These were going to be used to signal a child's death. I counted "Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, Boom, and Boom" 10 tributes had lost their lives in a mere 10 minutes of the games, an announcement is played into the arena. "Welcome Ladies and Gentleman to the 1st Annual Hunger Games, My name is Aleksander Righton and I will be your announcer for the course of this fantastic event. Good luck tributes."

The snow has completely stopped now but the wind picks up so I decide to continue walking and go across the lake into the forest to locate shelter. Everything happens so quickly, people who I had a friendship with during training and the rest of our time before the games are either dead or murderers. I am a murderer I killed somebody today just so I could steal a shield and a bag from him. I stop and admire where I am, a magnificent snow covered forest with beautifully aligned trees next to each other on what looks to be a direct route to the mountains. I need to go check what is in the bag, so I stop sit down and open it up. It is pretty heavy. I open it up to find a flask full of warm liquid, a sleeping bag and a separate water bottle, there is also a fur coated hat and leather gloves in there. This was extremely lucky so I stand back up as if to carry on walking and I am tapped on the back by somebody. I turn around to discover it is Savoy.

5

He doesn't say anything although he is holding a giant scythe in one hand, dragging it along the floor the floor making a trail behind him. I edge my way back up towards a tree, Savoy comes close to me until our noses touch. I don't say a word but Savoy drops his scythe making a muffled clang on the ground, he then pushes his fingers through my hair and kisses me on the cheek and pulls back and places his finger to his mouth. Savoy then picks up his scythe and runs off into the trees. The mysteriousness of it all entices me; it sends me into a dream world where everything looks as if to have a haze around it. I begin to walk in the opposite direction deeper into the trees and I reach the bottom of the mountain. There is a small spring of water coming from the bottom of one. I take out my water bottle and fill it up. Immediately I drink the water which leaves me refreshed and ready for the next obstacle which gets into my way.

There is a scream coming from inside the woods where I had just come from which breaks the haziness from my view and suddenly everything becomes more real. I put my bottle back in my bag and clip the shield back onto my jacket and sprint back into the woods. Right now I feel as though the only thing that matters is saving somebodies life and making sure that they make it through the sadistic emotional rollercoaster of a television show. I reach a clearing in the woods and there is a little boy I remember from the hovercraft introductions, his name is Odell from District 5. She is strung up on a tree by his torso there is nobody else around but me and her. I shout to him "Who did this to you?"

"Be careful it's a trap" Odell cries back at me.

"Who did this to you?" I repeat, getting more and more nervous by the second.

Two heads come from behind one huge oak tree; they step into full view and begin circling me and Odell who is strung up. I remember those two as well they were sat next to each other on the hovercraft. They are the twins from 8 Kamali and Kamana. Kamali has long black hair which covers one half of his face and Kamana has long black hair the same as her brothers but she has a red fringe. They both stare at me with menacing expressions as they twiddle daggers through their fingers. The arena suddenly turns dark with just the moonlight shining in a ray acting as spotlight. I draw my shield poised to attack when Kamali shoots a dagger straight through the rope holding Odell up sending her to the ground with sickening crack of both of her legs. Odell screams in pain as the twins laugh in unison. "She's as good as dead anyway District 11. There is no way you can save her." Kamana says as she walks towards her brother as they high five each other with the most terrifying smile I have ever seen. I turn around to face the girl who is writhing in pain in the snow. A knife is launched towards me, I duck and throw my shield in the twins direction cleanly decapitating Kamali. When the cannon sounds Kamana also screams in horror and launches herself at me dropping her knives and diving right onto my back knocking me face first into the snow. Her hands tighten around my throat as I flip over and push her back. More violent screams are heard as I punch her in her nose. Bloods is gushing everywhere as I stand up and take the two sets of knives from each of the twins and put them into my bag and leave her to freeze in the cold next her brother's body.

I pick up Odell who is still yelling in pain and take her to a cave near to where I found the water, I put Odell into the cave and go back out into the darkness there is a cannon, it must be for Kamana so I continue to the spring and refill both of our water bottles. On the way back to the cave the Panem National Anthem plays out and a projection is shone into the sky showing each of the dead tribute and how they died for today.

District 2

Hephaestus was killed by being bludgeoned to death with a mace by Amaranta.

District 4

An Aquaria was killed suffocation by Kamali.

District 5

Iden was killed by suffocation from Lavender

District 6

Balin N/A

Eara N/A

District 7

Jael was decapitated with a sword by Savoy

District 8

Kamli was killed by decapitation from a shield thrown by Demeter

Kamana was killed by natural causes (low temperature)

District 9

Male by Athena

Female by Caittlin

District 10

Male: by Athena

Female: Killed by a spear through the heart thrown by Philess

District 12

Blair was killed by Demeter using the tribute platform as a blade to slit his throat.

I feel disgusted I have caused so much pain to the families of those children, killing what could most probably be their only child because of what the Capitol is making us do. I can't stand to be outside in this cold anymore so I go back into the cave and take me sleeping bag out and get into it with Odell who I am carefully cradling to share body heat with.

The arena has brought a new side to me that I have never seen to me before, I guess that I will have to deal with this new side and use it to my advantage the next time I am faced with a day like today.

6

I could not shake the feeling of hunger when I woke up the next morning. My fingers were numb and my face was frozen. So I woke up with Odell still sleeping next to me and got out of the sleeping bag to check my bag for the gloves and hat and scarf. I found them put them on and then opened the flask and drank the warm liquid, it tasted like nothing I have eaten before meat and vegetables. I didn't drink it all as I don't know how long it will be before I get the chance to get more food again.

Odell doesn't wake up so I leave her to sleep and go to the frozen lake to see if I could try catching fish. The sun has only just come up so I was expecting that all the other tributes will still be sleeping so I use my sword to break a hole in the ice, when I do this the sound echoes through the woods and I hear the Mockingjays screech as they are awoken. This startles me and I duck to hide myself from any nearby tributes. The coast seems clear so I look down into the hole I just made; there are hundreds and hundreds of fish all swimming in a circle around the hole. I try and knife one but I can't, they are all swimming way too fast. A spear comes right stabs right into at least 10 fish, I look up see that it is Philess, she looks extremely cold and emaciated, her bones were all visible through her clothing and the fur coated jacket we were given is drowning her as she looks as thin as some of the children whose parents leave them at home whilst they are forced to go out into the fields and work back home. Philess pulls her spear out of the water and sniffs the fish she has caught with great pleasure visible in her eyes.

Our eyes meet and she swings her spear back firing the fish out like shuffleboard pieces out onto the ice covering the lake and poises it ready to fight. I pick up my shield and point my dagger towards her. "You don't want to this." I say. Philess laughs.

"Oh I do, there is nothing more I would like to do is kill you right now! You killed my allies." She cries back at me.

"You were allies with Kamana and Kamali?" I shout.

Philess begins to get closer. "Yes. I was allies with them directly after the tribute parade back in the Capitol. "

From behind Philess I can see something running toward us coming from the caves. I look glare at Philess keeping my battle stance strong as Savoy dives onto her back sliding them both into the hole in the ground face first into the water. I get on my knees and stare into the water to see if I could see them but there is nothing, the fish had disappeared and so had they.

After what seems like an eternity of waiting passes a cannon sounds. Is one of them is dead? Or is it one of the other tributes that have met their demise in the godforsaken arena? There is a splash and a hand is raised from the water and grabs onto the ice, the other comes up and I am about to discover the survivor of this surprise attack from Savoy. Another cannon sounds and it is Savoy that has reigned victorious from the battle. I didn't notice before but he is completely naked. His body is toned and defined in all areas, on his chest there is a small amount of hair. The most noticeable thing about him like this is that he is completely blue from the cold. Savoy faint but I grab him before he hits the ground and carry him over my shoulder until we reach the end of the lake. All of his clothes are arranged neatly on a tree stump along with shoes. I spread his muscular body out next to his clothes on the tree stump and dress him. I then continue to carry him on my shoulders until we reach the cave.

I lay him in the sleeping bag only to realise that it is covered in blood.

7

Odell is gone; Savoy saved my life from the crazed girl from District 3. What do I do? Do I assume that she has miraculously gotten better and ran? Or has Savoy killed her? As I watch Savoy lay down snuggled into my sleeping bag I hear something. It sounds like his voice but it is very hoarse. I kneel down to get closer to him. Savoy grabs me and pulls me on top of him. He forces me to kiss him and I do. At first it doesn't feel right kissing a boy but I like it. He then rolls over on top of me and takes his jacket and t-shirt off, exposing his muscles again. "It's okay." He whispers in my ear. This eases my feeling and I run my fingers down his perfectly toned body and we kiss more he bites my lip gently and he kisses down my body.

I can't be doing this my family will be watching. The world will be watching. But it feels so good. His arm holding my body as he slowly moves down it. I stand up quickly knocking him to the floor. "What's wrong?" He says.

"I can't do this. Not here. Where is Odell? I reply.

"Who? That little girl?" He mischievously says.

Savoy starts to put his top back on and his jacket, masking the bulge in his pants with his hands. I nod my head nervously and back away to pick up my knives.

"Aww, did you want to look after her. She put up quite a fight you know? She was getting too friendly with you and that was my job. Ever since we were in training I have had my eye on you."

"But why me?" I say timidly.

"You're cute Demeter. That's why. Are you frightened by homosexuality?" He says intimidatingly. "There is nothing to be afraid of."

At that moment a cannon goes off and Savoy blows me a kiss and runs away into the snow which seems to be slowly melting. I go into my bag to discover I had no food left so I suppose my only option would be to go and hunt for either tributes that have food or animals to turn into food. I look from outside the cave and see that it is getting a lot darker but there is smoke coming from further up the mountain. I roll up my bloody sleeping bag and pick up my bag and start to walk up the mountain.

By the time I reach where the fire was, it was completely dark. There was no body there, the embers from the previous fire gave me some light but all I could see were the things immediately around it. The Panem National Anthem played and the hologram showing the fallen tributes and who killed them were shown.

District 3

Philess was beaten to death by Savoy underwater.

District 5

Odell was mutilated by Savoy.

District 12

Caittlin had her throat slit by Lachlan

I never want to see him again. Savoy killed the one person I was able to bond with out of the remaining tributes, he also saved my life and gave me the best near sexual experience I could possibly ever have. The hologram disappears and the arena is plunged into darkness. I decide to look for things to burn and start a fire. Once the fire is burning I roll out my sleeping bag and go to sleep.

I have decided that tomorrow will be the day that I kill Savoy.

8

Birds were chirping and the sun was shining. When I got out of the sleeping bag I had found that all the snow from the ground and across the arena had disappeared and everything was green. It reminded me of spring time back home, all the crops were fresh and you could smell them in the air. I looked out across the arena and there was a plume of smoke coming from where the cornucopia was. There was also a lot of screaming and shouting.

After packing my bags, I began my descent down the mountain towards the frozen lake. When I reached the frozen lake, it was blatantly obvious that it was no longer frozen. It was an actual lake. The water had a current; there were chunks of lumber and branches speeding down it. This is the only way that I can get to the cornucopia, the only problem is, I can't swim and the lake is swamped with debris from what looks to have been some sort of gamemaker induced storm.

An announcement is played into the arena. "Good morning tributes, as some of you already know there was a storm last night and there is currently a fire at the cornucopia. In 1 hour there will be an explosion in the mountains causing a volcano erupt. There will be a steel boat dropped in the centre of the arena with enough room for 4 tributes once the initial explosion has happened. Good luck.".

Without thinking I dive into the lake and start to swim my hardest. A tree trunk knocks me on my head and everything becomes dark. I can feel the water entering my mouth and nose. Life slipping away from me. There is a muffled splash; somebody must have jumped in to get me because I feel arms around me and pulling me to the surface. Whoever it is starts to pump my chest and I cough up water and life is brought back to me. My eyes shoot open when an earthquake hits and I am dragged up and pulled towards the woods on the other side of the lake. The earthquake really hits hard all of a sudden and trees begin to fall in front of us It gets too hard to run and I fall head over heels down a ditch that must have been dug out by a tribute. Whoever it was has carried on running and left me to die. I can see straight now but it is all dark. Trees must have fallen on top of me because I cannot even see the morning sky. I don't even realise that I had fallen straight onto a wooden spike that has gone right through my ankle. The pain comes back to me and I scream so loud that it echoes through the entire arena. I can hear the screams of the other tributes as another earthquake rumbles through the arena. "BOOM!" Cannon goes off and there is an extreme heat rolling over the arena. I can smell smoke, fire is catching above me. Beneath me there is a metallic clunking noise and the floor starts to move upwards toward the fire.

It gets quicker and quicker; I rip my ankle from the spike let out an ear piercing scream. I start to punch the ground and it falls underneath me. My body falls through a slight hole. The platform reaches the top where the fire is. A canon goes off. It begins to rain and with the rain comes a parachute in my direction. I crawl from the hole as the rain had put out the flames and grab the parachute. It contains a small box that contains a drug that most people in 6 are addicted to called morphling. I inject it into the veins in my wrist and stand up. I can feel the strength of the drug instantly, not only in my perforated ankle but in my whole body. I run towards the cornucopia and what feels like double my usual pace. Dodging trees and branches at the speed of light until I reach the clearing where Odell was injured. It hits me like a tonne of bricks. Today is the day that they are expecting to end it all. A canon sounds which breaks the mesmerizing reality and I begin to run again.

When I reach the cornucopia it is pandemonium, I see Amaranta for the first time in 3 days she is fighting Lavender, the female tribute from 1. Amaranta has a scythe and she is slicing towards Lavender but she is quick and nimble. I hear an ear piercing scream as Savoy dives onto Amaranta's back; he is smashing her head into the cornucopia like he is playing a drum. Lavender stands by and laughs manically occasionally kicking her in the head, the screams continue until there is only silence. Savoy picks Amaranta's body up and is about to throw it of off the cornucopia until he sees me. I walk through the rain soaking wet; I take off my jacket and throw it onto the ground, the mud splashing up onto my face. Lavender screams "Kill him! What are you doing Savoy?" Savoy drops Amaranta's body and picks up her Scythe and throws it towards Lavender hitting her right in the heart. It was almost like everything was going in slow motion as Lavender's body falls through the air into the mouth of the cornucopia, Savoy then jumps down and as he does Amaranta and Lavenders canons both sound simultaneously. We both begin to run and we meet in the middle and hug passionately. It was like I had forgiven everything he had done and do not care about any of the other two tributes hiding in the area. The rain falls harder and we start to kiss. "I love you Demeter." He whispers in my ear. Before I could answer, what sounds like a bear growls and there is male screaming going on further into the woods.

Our moment is broken when Lachlan and Sync both come running out of the woods with a giant bear at least 20ft tall behind them. They come straight towards us and past us and jump onto the cornucopia. "I can't let you die." Savoy shouts in my ears as he grabs the scythe and run towards the bear. I run completely the opposite way and get onto the cornucopia to deal with the other two. I pull out my daggers and shield and I am out of sight of anyone and sit down. I whisper to myself, "Please be safe." I then stand and scream and throw daggers towards Sync, one scrapes his eye, blood squirting all over Lachlan's face. Sync falls to his knees motionless but not dead. Lachlan has a sword which he pulls out and points it towards me. Knowing that I cannot get a shot on him with my knives in time a drop them and step back slowly. My heart beating extremely fast and I slip onto my back off of the cornucopia. Savoy catches me before I hit the ground. I know there is something that I feel between me and Savoy, but he killed everyone that I was close to in these games and last night on the mountains I vowed to myself and the rest of Panem that I would kill him. All of a sudden I feel like there is only me and him left in the world and nothing could make us part.

Nothing of course but the rule. That only one tribute out of 23 others could become a victor. The victor of Panem's first annual Hunger Games.

9

The most heart wrenching sound is played into the arena, it sounded like a baby being tortured. There was cackling coming from the woods. It came closer and closer and closer. I jump down from Savoy's arms and jump up to Lachlan. "What do you want?" Lachlan laughs. I throw a punch which lands right onto his nose breaking it. Lachlan wipes the blood from his face. The rain picks up and the arena darkens. The cackling grows to the point where it sounds like it is right behind me. It becomes louder; honestly it feels like the cackling is surrounding me. It felt like flames were engulfing me in a disturbing cloak of madness.

We both place our hands over our ears in screeching pain from the cackling. Savoy is nowhere to be seen and neither is the bear but there has been no canon so I take this as a good sign. I edge my way forward to get closer to Lachlan. Holding my knives in one hand, the shield in the other. It felt like I was walking against a current of water. The force of the cackling pushes against me and with Lachlan incapacitated it was the perfect opportunity to end this thing.

Lachlan was crippled with pain; somehow it was not half as affecting me as it is him. I poise my dagger towards him, ready to stab him through his heart. The rain and cackling stops. Lachlan jumps to his feet with a strand of barbed wire in his hands. He dives onto me. I hold my dagger to his throat as he slices at my face. I stab him in his eye and pull it out, Lachlan screams the blood squirting from his socket and he falls to the ground and begins to have what looks to be an epileptic fit. Savoy walks up to me, so close that I can feel his breath on my face. "I love you too" I say to him.

At that moment the ground shifts apart and the cornucopia begins with it. Savoy and I both jump down onto the ground. I fall into his arms and I know from now on is the hard part. A "Boom!" bellows throughout the arena and I know that Sync is dead and Savoy and I are the only tributes left. I start to cry into his chest and he pulls me up and begins to walk through the ruins of the forest, I follow him. Savoy starts to run so I pick up speed until we reach the lake. "What happened?" Savoy asks.

"Did you not see the lava?" I reply. We both turn around at the same time to see the 20ft tall bear staring at us. Savoy holds me back and runs in to fight the bear. I cannot watch so I break down in tears. The bear swipes Savoy across the chest and he falls to the ground. The bear growls and I pull out my last throwing knife aim it at the bear and throw it with all my strength. It hits it right in neck and it drops on top of Savoy lifeless. Savoy screams in pain and I run up to him. The only part of his body that I could see was his head and he was only just breathing. The tears instantly start to pour down my face as he says his final words to me. "I am happy. You came into my life and made it so much better. I love you now and always." With that the canon sounds and Savoy's body is lifeless. He looks angelic and free. Free from the torment of the Capitol. This has been the best and worst experience of my life. I have had to sit by and watch 23 children die in front of me all for the sadistic entertainment of the Capitol.

I sincerely hope that this would be the last time that the children of Panem will be subjected to this sort of emotional and physical torture.


End file.
